The Withering Belle
by XX-Kaiser's-Angel-XX
Summary: Gambit has finally met his match in a little Southern Belle named Rouge. How is he ever going to get his girl when the first thing he ever said to her he put his foot in his mouth? What deep dark painful secrets are hiding in the mind of Rouge just waiting to come out and play?


The Withering Belle

X-Men

Gambit - Rouge

Chapter One

And So It Begins

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Gambit, otherwise known as Remy Etienne LeBeau to his family and friends, sat astride his motorcycle and stared at the mansion before him. It looked like a great place to steal from, not that he was going to be allowed to. If he even so much as thought of stealing from the place he was sure a certain white-haired weather witch was going to use as a lightning rod.

It wasn't the first time he had sat in front of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Oh wait they changed the blasted name on him. The plaque on the wall by the gate now read Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Well whoop de do, all they did was change the wording a bit. It still just said plainly that it was a school and no place for this Cajun thief to be. He wouldn't even be in New York if he hadn't been practically begged to help by Ororo Munroe aka Storm, or as he likes to call her 'Stormy'.

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The first time he had visited the X-Mansion, as he liked to call it, was when he had to bring a de-aged Storm back to her Mentor, Charles Xavier. When he had found the little white-haired girl he had been all set to make her his apprentice and part of his family. Even his father was going to allow him to take her in, not many people would have tried to pick this homme's pocket.

He would have gone through with it if it wasn't for some spook sending thoughts in to his head. Now normally that wouldn't have been possible because Gambit liked to keep his mind to himself. But what he didn't count on was for a highly skilled telepath the likes he never seen or heard of before forcing down his barriers around his mind in hopes of saving his little protégé. Add to the fact that he was then told to leave his home in New Orléans and trek all the way to New York just to drop of the girl, Gambit wasn't very happy about his first visit here.

Yet he was very pleased by how little Stormy looked when she turned back to her proper age. She was like an earthen goddess, all milk chocolate skin and that amazing white hair. Let it be known that Gambit admits to having a slight weakness to beautiful women, ok scratch that, he has a big weakness for beautiful women. So the first thing that he did was, you guessed it, flirt with her. And all he received for his troubles was a stern glare and a request to knock it off.

Guess that things from her time as Little Stormy stayed with her. Little Stormy had learned the hard way that Gambit was very much the ladies man he portrayed himself as. Bet Stormy learned quick to knock before entering his room, especial at night.

Being brushed off by Stormy, Gambit had then turned his gaze on the other woman in Professor X's office. He pointedly ignored the jerk in the rose-colored sunglasses and flirted with the tall red-head. She had been lovely except for a dark feeling that she had given off. Gambit could blame it on his Tante Mattie and her teachings, for he soon felt bad vibes from the red-head called Jean. It felt like something primal, deadly and thirsting for freedom. Gambit had been shocked that nobody else could feel the vibes that Jean was emitting. But giving that Sunglasses was still glaring at him and Storm stood right beside Jean, he was the only one that had a clue.

Gambit had then turned to Xavier and saw the old man look uncomfortable with his questioning stare. Ok scratch that, both he and Xavier felt the vibe. Xavier just didn't think he needed to do anything besides what he had already done. But Gambit had a feeling that what ever had been done would not last forever so Gambit had decided to leave, promising to stay in contact.

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The second time he had been called back to the X-Mansion was a couple of years after the first visit. He had been called by a near frantic Stormy, crying about the deaths of Xavier, Jean and Scott. She had mentioned that Jean had lost control and killed both Xavier and her lover Scott before she was bought down by Wolverine. The students and faculty at the school were at a loss for what to do in the wake of Xavier's death. Gambit and many others had been called in to act as subs for some of the classes. Gambit had said he couldn't come anytime soon for he was negotiating his return to his family and the lifting of his banishment.

Imagine Gambit's surprise when he knocked on the door at Xavier's a little over a year later and his old friend Logan answers it. Calling Logan his friend would be stretching it a bit, seeing that Gambit had only known Logan for a few days and when he had left him Logan had forgotten all about him and everything else. Amnesia sure was a bitch because it had caused a door to be slammed in his face. All Logan had said as he slammed the door was 'It's Not Her'.

Gambit had scowled and made to knock again when Ororo had opened the door for him. Gambit had received an apology from Stormy and an explanation why the door slamming happened. Apparently one of the students had left to get herself 'cured' about a year and a few months prior. Something about never being able to touch without hurting everyone, but Gambit wasn't really listening about the reasons. From what Gambit gathered while watching Logan storm off in a huff, this 'Rouge' person was very important to the crabby feral mutant. That was the first time the unknown Rouge had intrigued him.

Gambit had refused to teach but he had been happy to work on the severely lacking security system that the school had to offer. He had been working on the main gate when Logan had come tearing down the driveway with a supped up motorcycle. Logan then started hollering for the gate to be opened up or else he was going to cut it down.

Gambit had been forced to tell the enraged feral that the gate could not be opened at the time. Well just as Gambit had turned his back he heard metal-cutting through metal and the roar of a motorcycle driving away at top speed. Gambit had turned back around only swear out loud as he saw the middle of the gate had been cut to pieces. Just what he needed, he had to get a brand new gate. He never learned why Logan had been in a hurry and frankly he didn't really care.

Gambit had stayed a few months before his home town came a calling. He had left with a promise to visit soon.

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Now Gambit found himself sitting on his motorcycle staring at the gate to Xavier's. He reminded himself as he coasted the bike down the drive to the gate, no stealing and no sleeping with the female students or staff. Stormy was enforcing the first and 'The Rouge' enforcing the last. Gambit was really starting to hate 'The Rouge' with a passion. From what he believed, Rogue was some harrowed faced drill sergeant wannabe chick that had no right to tell him what to do. He just had to ignore the femme like the plague he thought she was.

Gambit typed in his code in to the gates keypad and the gate swung open. With practiced ease he sped down the rest of the driveway and parked his motorcycle in the garage beside a green and yellow motorcycle. He stood beside the new motorcycle admiring the make and model until he read the name Rouge on the back of the helmet. He scoffed, even if the blasted femme had excellent taste in motorcycles he was still going to be prone to hating her guts.

After exiting the garage Gambit stood still as he basked in the warm summer breeze. The full moon shined high in the sky casting the lawn in shadows. Gambit scoffed before he began walking the rest of the way to the door. He was really hoping Logan wasn't the one opening the doors again because he wasn't in the mood for slamming doors.

Imagine his surprise when he knocked on the door and a pretty Asian girl with short black hair in a pixie cut opened it. He was even more pleased when he looked over the Asian girl's head and saw so many beautiful females in one place and the best part they were all mutants.

Gambit smirked when a lot of the females stopped and stared at him like the eye candy he was. He then turned his attention to the femme in front of him.

"Well hello petite, Gambit be here to see Stormy. Can you let her know Gambit has arrived." Gambit asked sweetly as the Asian girl blushed and ran off to get Storm.

Gambit smirked before he closed the door behind him and strutted in to the room like he owned the place. Just as he was half way across the room someone tapped him on the shoulder. Gambit turned around and was greet by a tall blond woman wearing skimpy clothing leaving little to the imagination.

"Well hello handsome, the name's Dazzler. I'm sure I can dazzle you any time you wish." Dazzler purred as she wrapped her arms around Gambit's neck and pulled herself flush against him.

"Well Hello Chère, Gambit's is the name. Gambit would love to take the offer but. . . ." Gambit began only to be interrupted by a pretty girl with long brown hair in a pony tail that was being shadowed by a very tall mountain of a man. Gambit got the feeling that the pretty brown-haired girl was off the menu or at least soon to be.

"Ali you know what Rouge and Storm said about Gambit. Hands off, this is a school."

Gambit sighed and announced something he would soon regret saying. He didn't realize that the object of the conversation had entered the room.

"Gambit not afraid of some harrowed faced shrew."

"Harrowed faced shrew am Ah?" A beautiful southern accented voice came from behind him. He sighed as he thought that the south had betrayed him. No voice like that should belong to his worse nightmare in this place. Gambit lightly untangled himself from Dazzler arms and turned to face his doom. Yet the only thing that came out of his mouth was.

"Mon Dieu." If this was the Rouge before him Gambit just screwed his chances with a beautiful southern belle.

There she was walking down the stair railing like it was stone path instead of a highly waxed and slick surface. Her hair was two toned, with the majority of it being a reddish-brown with shocking white bangs hugging her beautiful face. Her perfectly proportioned body was covered in a green silk pajama set that left no uncovered skin from her neck to her slippered feet. Gambit raised an eyebrow when he saw that the slippers were made to look like wolverine paws complete with real looking claws. They manage to hug the line between cute and deadly quite well in his opinion.

Her skin was pale or at least the skin he could see was. Her hands were covered in wrist length gloves. Yet the most amazing thing about were her eyes. Her eyes were like emerald pools that he would gladly drown in. All in all she was one of the most beautiful femmes he had seen in all his life. But what came out of her cupid bow lips made him think that the world had just dropped out from under him.

"Well Swamp Rat I can just tell you and ah are never going to get along. Probably a good thing, Ah don't need some womanizing man whore taking up my time." With that being ad she turned around and waltzed back up the railing and out of sight. Gambit face was shocked as the pretty brown-haired girl said.

"That was as the students call her 'The Rouge'. And you just got your self on her bad side. Congrats and good luck because you're sure gonna need it."

Gambit stopped listening or paying attention to anything. He had just messed up badly with no way in sight to make it better. That southern Belle was so out of his league.

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Here ends the First Chapter of The Withering Belle

Please Review if you wish for me to continue

Kaiser


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